Bulgaria implicates Hezbollah in deadly Israeli bus blast

The Bulgarian government Tuesday said two of the people behind a deadly bombing attack that targeted an Israeli tour bus six months ago were believed to be members of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The announcement could force the European Union to reconsider whether to designate the group as a terrorist organization and crack down on its extensive fund-raising operations across the continent. That could have wide-reaching repercussions for Europe's uneasy détente with the group, which is an influential force in Middle East politics, considers Israel an enemy and has extensive links with Iran.

Bulgaria's interior minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said at a news conference the investigation into the bombing in Burgas in July 2012 found that a man with an Australian passport and a man with a Canadian passport were two of the three conspirators involved in the attack, which claimed the lives of five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver.

Bulgarian investigators had "a well-founded assumption that they belonged to Hezbollah," Tsvetanov said.

The United States, which considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization, welcomed the finding.

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